rsync - Mar 2012 - failed: File name too long

Hey list,

I am using rsync version 3.0.7, protocol version 30, to transfer data
between amd64 and mipsel machines, tunnelled over SSH.

Some file names are very long and rsync unfortunately cannot transfer
them, issuing the following error message:

failed: File name too long (78)

I'm assuming the 78 is drawn from a system header that it was compiled
against and probably not universal to the error on all platforms, so the
message before it is probably all I need to be concerned with.

I've taken a look through the documentation and the mailing list
archives, and I can't find anyone that's found a resolution.

Is there a switch or some means of getting rsync to use a dynamically
sized file name buffer, or perhaps some other method for situations like
this? Or is this a no go and a problem that is a current design problem
without a solution to?

-- 
Kip Warner -- Software Engineer
OpenPGP encrypted/signed mail preferred
http://www.thevertigo.com
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On Thu 29 Mar 2012, Kip Warner wrote:
> 
> Some file names are very long and rsync unfortunately cannot transfer
> them, issuing the following error message:
> 
> failed: File name too long (78)
> 
> I'm assuming the 78 is drawn from a system header that it was compiled
> against and probably not universal to the error on all platforms, so the
> message before it is probably all I need to be concerned with.
> 
> I've taken a look through the documentation and the mailing list
> archives, and I can't find anyone that's found a resolution.
The problem is that your OS doesn't accept the long filenames;
there's nothing that rsync can do to fix your OS.
> Is there a switch or some means of getting rsync to use a dynamically
> sized file name buffer, or perhaps some other method for situations like
> this? Or is this a no go and a problem that is a current design problem
> without a solution to?
It's not a problem within rsync itself.

It might be that the temporary file that rsync creates has a name that's
too long for your system; in that case, contemplate using --inplace or
--temp-dir=xxx


Paul